U.S. Pat. No. 4,159,158 discloses and claims an improved electrical connector of the type having solderless terminals therein of the wire-in-slot type. Wires are connected to terminals of this type by simply aligning the wires with wire-receiving slots in the terminals and moving the wires laterally of their axes and into the slots. The width of the slots in the terminals is such that the opposed edges of the slots penetrate the insulation of the wires and establish electrical contact therewith.
Connectors having wire-in-slot type terminals therein offer particular advantages in that it is possible simultaneously to connect a plurality of wires to a like number of terminals by moving all of the wires simultaneously into the wire-receiving portions of the terminals, operations which can be carried out by any one of several types of insertion tools and machines which are presently available.
When a wire is moved into a wire-receiving slot of a terminal, substantial stresses are imposed on the wire-receiving portion of the terminal and since the terminals are frequently of relatively thin metal stock, the stresses imposed during this process can cause damage to the terminals. The above identified U.S. Pat. No. 4,159,158 discloses a means in the connector housing for supporting the wire-receiving portion of each terminal in a connector during the wire-inserting operation and isolating the stresses which are imposed on the terminal so that they are not transmitted to the contact portions of the terminal to which they might cause damage. The features described in this prior U.S. Patent permit the use of wire-in-slot terminals with wires of a coarser gage than would otherwise be possible and thereby greatly increase the circumstances under which such connectors can be used.
As mentioned above, the connector shown and described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,159,158 is a single row connector, that is, it has only one row of terminals in the housing. While single row connectors are very widely used, there is also a demand for connectors having two rows of terminals therein and the present invention is directed to the achievement of a two row electrical connector having all of the advantageous features of a connector constructed in accordance with the above identified U.S. patent.
A connector in accordance with the invention has a housing composed of two housing parts, a housing body and a separate housing cover. The housing body has one surface which forms the wire-receiving face of the assembled connector and a central rib extends normally from this section. Spaced-apart barriers are provided on the oppositely directed surfaces of this rib and these barriers have opposed walls which define the opposed walls of the terminal-receiving cavities of the connector. The opposed walls of the barriers also have supporting shoulders thereon in accordance with the principles of U.S. Pat. No. 4,159,158 which support the wire-receiving portions of the terminals particularly during insertion of wires into these wire-receiving portions. The terminals are assembled to the housing body by positioning a terminal in alignment with each cavity and moving the terminal laterally of its axis until it is located in its cavity with the supporting shoulder means in supporting relationship to the wire-receiving portions of the terminals. The housing cover is partially assembled to the housing body after the terminals have been assembled to the housing body in a manner such that the cover becomes part of the body but the wire-receiving portions of the terminals are exposed to permit movement of wires laterally of the sidewalls of the housing and into the wire-receiving portions. After such movement of the wires into the terminals, the wires will extend axially from the rearward or wire-receiving face of the housing. The cover can then be moved to a fully assembled position in which the cover extends over the wire-receiving portions of the terminals and the terminals are therefore fully enclosed in the housing.